DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36284#0044
36
A rare piece of glass-work, entirely outside of all the
groups, is the lantern illustrated in fig. 34, which is in
the collection of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild in Paris.
The shape, of which we give the profile under No. 1
of fig. 42, is an exact approximation to that of metal
lanterns. Even the straight-lined geometrical pattern of
interlacements, which here forms the chief motif in the
ornament of the mantle (or body) is in itself tar more
suited to the technique of engraving than to that of the
glass-painter. Ornamentation of that kind is, so tar as we
know, met with in only two other examples of old Oriental
gilt and enamelled glass-work. These are the amphora of
St. Stephan's Treasury in Vienna, plate XIII, and the
mosque-lamp belonging to Mr. Charles Mannheim in Paris,
hg. 10. This glass, however, derives its resemblance to
and besides these, a single repetition of the two words,
"The King, the Wise." It gives us no aid towards forming
a conclusion as to the age of the vessel, not even through
the fashion of the round-letter script. This kind of
extremely thin characters, lightly and rapidly written
without outlines, is met with in the fourteenth as well as
the fifteenth century—it is likewise to be seen, as we have
said already, in the lower inscription-frieze of the Polo-
players' goblet in the Grime Gewolbe—that inscription
being also painted red from the inside. But the heaviness
of the make, and especially the thick application of the
enamel, lead us to judge that the lantern is a specimen of
glass-industry of the period comprising the end of the
fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century.
In the scheme of colour, white, blue, red, and green
FiG. 34. i?i. %Ae coPectioM o/ ParoK yl^^r^.se de
Ho?AscAP(%, Parts. owe-A a//" ^Ae stze o/ &e ortyntaL)
a metal lantern, especially from the way in which the
enamelling and gilding of the decoration is treated.
With the exception of the raised rim, of the narrow
mantle - edge immediately contiguous, and of the
inscription-frieze which is painted red from behind, the
whole vessel is completely covered with enamel and gold,
in such wise that the material—glass—is belied by its
decoration. The anonymous inscription in gold (fig. 35)
runs as follows : " Glory to our Lord the King, the Wise,
the Just, the Warrior, the Watcher in advance, the
Maintainer of the borders, the Assisted of God, the Mighty,
the Victorious." There is a double repetition of this
inscription from the word "King " to the word " Victorious,"
enamel are comprised, the blue dominating. White is but
sparingly used, being limited to the smallest fields grouped
around the eight-pointed middle star of the principal figure
in the geometrical interlacements, and to the endless band
which is enamelled in the ornament on the upper surface
(fig. 36). The upper band of this ornament, and a part of
Fia. 36. 34 (0%e-Aay ^Ae aize V %Ae ort^LaA)
the five-pointed star in the interlaced work on the mantle,
are red; the rest of the five-pointed star being green.
Everything else is enamelled in blue.
The green enamel has run soft and is of very unequal
thickness, the red is proportionate, the blue and white
unusually thick, laid on in the manner of relief.
The vessel is 220 mm. in height, 195 mm. in its lower
diameter; it has been somewhat deformed by the fire, and
on one side is slightly pressed back.
A rare piece of glass-work, entirely outside of all the
groups, is the lantern illustrated in fig. 34, which is in
the collection of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild in Paris.
The shape, of which we give the profile under No. 1
of fig. 42, is an exact approximation to that of metal
lanterns. Even the straight-lined geometrical pattern of
interlacements, which here forms the chief motif in the
ornament of the mantle (or body) is in itself tar more
suited to the technique of engraving than to that of the
glass-painter. Ornamentation of that kind is, so tar as we
know, met with in only two other examples of old Oriental
gilt and enamelled glass-work. These are the amphora of
St. Stephan's Treasury in Vienna, plate XIII, and the
mosque-lamp belonging to Mr. Charles Mannheim in Paris,
hg. 10. This glass, however, derives its resemblance to
and besides these, a single repetition of the two words,
"The King, the Wise." It gives us no aid towards forming
a conclusion as to the age of the vessel, not even through
the fashion of the round-letter script. This kind of
extremely thin characters, lightly and rapidly written
without outlines, is met with in the fourteenth as well as
the fifteenth century—it is likewise to be seen, as we have
said already, in the lower inscription-frieze of the Polo-
players' goblet in the Grime Gewolbe—that inscription
being also painted red from the inside. But the heaviness
of the make, and especially the thick application of the
enamel, lead us to judge that the lantern is a specimen of
glass-industry of the period comprising the end of the
fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century.
In the scheme of colour, white, blue, red, and green
FiG. 34. i?i. %Ae coPectioM o/ ParoK yl^^r^.se de
Ho?AscAP(%, Parts. owe-A a//" ^Ae stze o/ &e ortyntaL)
a metal lantern, especially from the way in which the
enamelling and gilding of the decoration is treated.
With the exception of the raised rim, of the narrow
mantle - edge immediately contiguous, and of the
inscription-frieze which is painted red from behind, the
whole vessel is completely covered with enamel and gold,
in such wise that the material—glass—is belied by its
decoration. The anonymous inscription in gold (fig. 35)
runs as follows : " Glory to our Lord the King, the Wise,
the Just, the Warrior, the Watcher in advance, the
Maintainer of the borders, the Assisted of God, the Mighty,
the Victorious." There is a double repetition of this
inscription from the word "King " to the word " Victorious,"
enamel are comprised, the blue dominating. White is but
sparingly used, being limited to the smallest fields grouped
around the eight-pointed middle star of the principal figure
in the geometrical interlacements, and to the endless band
which is enamelled in the ornament on the upper surface
(fig. 36). The upper band of this ornament, and a part of
Fia. 36. 34 (0%e-Aay ^Ae aize V %Ae ort^LaA)
the five-pointed star in the interlaced work on the mantle,
are red; the rest of the five-pointed star being green.
Everything else is enamelled in blue.
The green enamel has run soft and is of very unequal
thickness, the red is proportionate, the blue and white
unusually thick, laid on in the manner of relief.
The vessel is 220 mm. in height, 195 mm. in its lower
diameter; it has been somewhat deformed by the fire, and
on one side is slightly pressed back.